Prevalence and Management of Low Back Pain Among Health Workers in a Privately Owned Teaching Hospital in Nigeria

Abstract

Aim: This study assessed the prevalence and management of LBP among health workers in a private teaching hospital in South West Nigeria. Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) often experience low back pain (LBP) more than any other category of workers. While a lot has been documented about the prevalence of LBP among different categories of workers, little is known about how health workers manage LBP. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the prevalence and management of LBP among health workers in a private teaching hospital in South West Nigeria. Associations between variables: (a) sociodemographic variables (i.e., age, gender) and the prevalence of low back pain, and (b) interference with activities of daily living across different categories of health workers, were evaluated. Methods: A cross-sectional design was employed in this study. One hundred and eighty-nine HCWs were randomly selected from the wards and units of the hospital. The LBP questionnaire and the Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaire were used for data collection. Data were analysed using descriptive (mean and percentages) and inferential (chi-square and ANOVA) statistics. Results: The prevalence of LBP among health workers was found to be 87.3%. Moreover, most of the health workers massage their back (78.3%), engage in exercise (72.0%), and use analgesics (69.3%) as a means of managing LBP. Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between gender (X2 = 0.31, P>0.05), age (X2 = 1.52, P>0.05), marital status (X2 = 2.93, P>0.05) of HCWs and prevalence of LBP. However, a significant difference was reported in the mean interference of LBP with activities of daily living across the different categories of healthcare workers that participated in the study (F= (7,181) 3.58, P = 0.01). Conclusion: The prevalence of LBP is high among HCWs that participated in the study. Therefore, it is recommended that HCWs might use massage, engage in exercise, and take analgesics as a means to combat LBP.